Hacking Guide to R4Ultra

Before I start, <b>DO NOT BUY ANY FLASHCART WHICH SAYS R4 ON IT. DON'T GET SCAMMED LIKE I DID</b>.

Now I know R4Ultra is a clone (of the AceKard2) and it sucks and is not worth the money. But there's a lack of information for those who bought it (without doing his homework?) and since I got one and spent time poking around, I decided to make a guide for the poor folks who have the R4Ultra instead of a good flashcart =\

<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Firmware<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

You have a few choices:
- R4Ultra's own firmware
- YSMenu
<strike>- AceKard2 firmware</strike>
- AKAIO 1.4

<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->R4Ultra's own firmware<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

<b>Download from</b>: <a href="http://www.r4ultra.com/download.htm" target="_blank">R4Ultra Official Website</a>

<b>Latest Version</b>: 1.54, released 18/4/09

<b>Instructions</b>: Self-explanatory, extract the contents of the RAR file to your microsd card.

<b>Features</b>:
- Soft Reset
Press the R button to toggle it on and off. If on, you can reset to the R4Ultra firmware in a game by pressing L+R+A+B+X+Y.
- Brightness Toggle
Press the L button until you get your desired brightness. Unfortunately this flashcart is trash and doesn't save your preference, so you have to change brightness every time you turn on the DS unless you like the default brightness. Doesn't appear on DS Phat.
- Toggle File Type View
Press the Select button to change what files it shows. Your options are to show all NDS files, all NDS + SAV, or all NDS + SAV + SAV.BAK. On first glace the other 2 options seem just to make your file list messier, but they serve a purpose. By pressing A on a SAV file you get a prompt to backup your save. Obviously, it backs up your save into a SAV.BAK file, and pressing A on that gets you a prompt to restore your game save. This is useful for things like arena abuse in Fire Emblem or backing up quicksaves.
- Moonshell
Famous homebrew multimedia software, plays music and videos. I don't use this too often so I can't tell you much except that it works. Pressing the Start button in Moonshell brings you back to the R4Ultra menu.
- Boot Slot2
Just tap the rightmost button upon bootup of the firmware.
- Fast scrolling
If you have a nice huge microsd and spammed all your (hopefully legally bought) DS games on it, it might be a pain to scroll through one by one. Pressing left or right on the dpad will move through your files one page at a time.

<b>Cheats</b>: The readme says <!--c1--><div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><!--ec1-->Please rename R4 CHEAT FILE "usrcheat.dat" to "cheat.dat", and put in Folder "_SYSTEM_"<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->While you can indeed do that, I found it inconsistent and weird. For example, though cheats for Pokemon Pearl showed up and worked, cheats for Black Sigil didn't (it errored with "No cheats found") and both games were in the cheat.dat when I opened it with r4cce. If you followed the instructions and the cheats work for you for all of your games then there's no problem (for example, <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=170659)" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=170659)</a>. Usually it is better to use an alternative firmware, though, which we'll cover later.

Also, if you know where to get *.cht files, those work too. Rename the cht file to the same as your rom (e.g. blacksigil.nds, blacksigil.cht). It's a rather messy system though, I'd rather not have my microsd card populated with cht files, but it's up to you if you don't feel like installing anything else.
You could also download the official cheat file from <a href="http://www.r4ultra.com/download.htm" target="_blank">R4Ultra Official Website</a>, but some cheats are in Chinese and it's generally a sucky file. Besides, it was last updated 21/12/08, so useless for recent games.

<b>Themes</b>: Located in _SYSTEM_\themes\themeX, where X is 01 to 12. Apparently it's a feature to change themes every month, for those of you who like that. However if you tried to get a R4 skin and it didn't work, it's because the skin files have to be in 16bit color depth and 96dpi. So open up your skin in photoshop or something and convert accordingly, and it should work okay.
If you want a different theme every month simply put a different theme in each folder, otherwise just paste the same theme in each folder.
As with the cheats, you could also download the official themes from <a href="http://www.r4ultra.com/download.htm" target="_blank">R4Ultra Official Website</a>. They have a 2009 calendar which some of you might find useful (and it makes use of that skin-change-on-month feature...) but the themes are so damn ugly...

<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->YSMenu<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

<b>Download from</b>: <a href="http://home.usay.jp/pc/etc/nds/" target="_blank">Yasu's Homepage</a> (he doesn't allow direct links, but it's easy to find)

<b>Latest Version</b>: The one labeled "EZ3in1+ NOR", released 27/03/09. (YSMenu0903270000.zip)

<b>Instructions</b>: YSMenu setup is a bit complicated.
Get <a href="http://www.gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=103878" target="_blank">AK2YSAuto</a> (remember this is an AK2 clone). It's unfortunately not been updated in a bit, but we'll survive <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />
Extract its contents to the same folder as the folder you have YSMenu0903270000.zip in (don't unzip YSMenu0903270000.zip).
Rename YSMenu0903270000.zip (the original file) to YSMenu0810211800.zip. Alternatively you can modify the batch file to use the original filename, it's up to you.
See the ak2.7z file that contains an akmenu4.nds? Replace that with an updated akmenu4.nds from the latest AK2 firmware.
Under the skin folder, put your R4 theme files in. Note that YSMenu doesn't require the skin files to be in 16bit color depth and 96dpi, unlike the R4Ultra. You should be able to just download an R4 theme and put it in the skin folder.
Lastly, there is also a USRCHEAT.DAT. It's not updated, get the latest one from <a href="http://cheats.gbatemp.net/" target="_blank">http://cheats.gbatemp.net/</a> and replace it.
Now you should be all ready to go. Double click on ak2.bat, choose english, follow instructions. If all goes right it should output a file named "ak2_custom_release.zip", which you simply extract to the root of your microsd.
Of course, all these would not have been possible without the efforts of Maikel Steneker (who created AK2YSAuto, for those of you who just scrolled to the download link without looking at who made it), so many many thanks to him!

<b>Features</b>:
- Soft Reset
Tick the checkbox for a game to toggle it on and off. If on, you can reset to the YSMenu firmware in a game by pressing L+R+A+B+X+Y. To have it on/off for all games, change the value of DEFAULT_RESET to true/false in YSMenu.ini
- Brightness Toggle
Tap the top left corner of the touchscreen to change brightness. You could also open YSMenu.ini and change the value of BRIGHT manually (0-3, 0 is lowest, 3 is brightest. -1 is default)
- Toggle File Type View
Similar to the R4Ultra. Press the Select button to change what files it shows. Your options are to show all NDS files, all NDS + SAV, or all files. On first glace the other 2 options seem just to make your file list messier, but they serve a purpose. By pressing A on a SAV file you get a prompt to backup your save. Obviously, it backs up your save into a SAV.BAK file, and pressing A on that gets you a prompt to restore your game save. This is useful for things like arena abuse in Fire Emblem or backing up quicksaves.
- Deleting files
Highlight any file and hit X to delete it (there will be a confirmation prompt so no worries about accidents)
- Boot Slot2
Press the Start button in YSmenu and select this function.
- Boot original DS menu
Press the Start button in YSmenu and select this function. Useful if you want to Download Play/PictoChat without taking the flashcart out. (why didn't they just do it like AK2 =\)
- Version check
Tap the bottom of the touchscreen to see the version of YSMenu you have. It shows up as ugly black text on top of your skin though, so if you chose a dark skin you might not be able to see it.
- Fast scrolling
If you have a nice huge microsd and spammed all your (hopefully legally bought) DS games on it, it might be a pain to scroll through one by one. Pressing left or right on the dpad will move through your files one page at a time. Also, pressing up/down when at the top/bottom file takes you to the bottom/top file respectively. (was that confusing D

<b>Cheats</b>: Unlike R4Ultra, the cheats work flawlessly most of the time. Get usrcheat.dat from <a href="http://cheats.gbatemp.net" target="_blank">http://cheats.gbatemp.net</a> (maintained by Narin), throw it in the YSMenu folder when you want to update it. Press the Y button when selecting a game to set cheats (or tap ... on the touchscreen next to the Cheats checkbox).

<b>Themes</b>: Located in YSMenu folder. It should be possible to directly use themes from the official R4 by renaming bckgrd_1.bmp and bckgrd_2.bmp to YSMenu1.bmp and YSMenu2.bmp. Further customisation is possible by editing the section of the YSMenu:
<!--c1--><div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><!--ec1-->[FILELIST]
; COLOR = BIT15 | BGR(5bit x3)
COLOR_PATH=0xFFFF
COLOR_FILE=0x8000
COLOR_FOLDER=0x800F
COLOR_SELECT=0xFC00
COLOR_SELTEXT=0x801F

[FILEINFO]
COLOR_TEXT=0x8000
DRAW_FRAME=true<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
For more information, visit the Customising section under the <a href="http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php/YSMenu" target="_blank">YSMenu entry in GBATemp wiki</a>

<b>More Info</b>
Visit these useful links:
<a href="http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php/YSMenu" target="_blank">http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php/YSMenu</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=164359" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=164359</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=97615" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=97615</a>

<b>Troubleshooting</b>
If you get "Unsupported DLDI Name" errors in YSMenu, be sure to check if you deleted the /__ak2/ak2_sd.dldi file, because that's what I did and it gave me that error. In other words, leave that file there (it's from the official AceKard2 firmware).

<strike>
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->AceKard2 firmware<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

<b>Download from</b>: <a href="http://www.acekard.com/download.php" target="_blank">AceKard2 Official Website</a>

<b>Latest Version</b>: 4.18

<b>Instructions</b>: Download the latest version, extract to microsd card. Easy as pie.

<b>Features</b>: Well there's no point in me going through the features of the AceKard2, there's a whole AceKard2 forum for a reason =\
<!--QuoteBegin-http://www.acekard.com/product.php?type=ak2+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(http://www.acekard.com/product.php?type=ak2)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Built in "Trimming" Function
Build-in file operation
Can be used as a Passme to boot from slot-2 flash carts. Run GBA games by using expand cart
Support Multi-language
Support Skin and Dynamic skin change
Support soft-reset, Download play and WIFI playing<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>More Info</b>
The AceKard2 forums: <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showforum=172" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showforum=172</a>
</strike>
I don't think the official AceKard2 firmware works...it doesn't load anything for me <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" /> sorry for not testing throughly.


<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->AKAIO<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

<b>Download from</b>: <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?download=4775" target="_blank">GBATemp Downloads</a>

<b>Latest Version</b>: 1.4.1 PROPER *repack* , but it blocks R4 clones. Last working version is 1.4.1
<!--quoteo(post=2207162:date=Aug 24 2009, 06:30 AM:name=DjoeN)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DjoeN @ Aug 24 2009, 06:30 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2207162"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->First, this cart does work with AKAIO 1.4.1 proper (did not test it with proper repack)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> thanks DjoeN

<b>Instructions</b>: Download 1.4.1, extract to microsd card.

<b>Features</b>:
<!--QuoteBegin-http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php/AKAIO+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php/AKAIO)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Cheat Improvements - R4/XML Cheat File processing, online updating
Plug-ins for TXT/MP3/etc.
"Future Adaptable" Multi-loader support (for AK2)
Multiple Save Slots per title - with copying between slots
Slot-2 Integration - EZ3in1 (w/GBA Patching), eWin 2in1, and older FlashAdvance Pro carts
Shortcut tweaks
Multi-page Start Menu
Filetype-based external icon support
Per-Rom settings for soft-reset/download play/cheats
Copying/Cutting/Deleting SAV files along with NDS files
Several improvements to 2byte language support
SAV backup/restore from within GUI (.SAV<->.BAK)
Wi-Fi Cheat Database, Savelist.bin, and Loader updates with automatic download resume.
Support for microSD and microSDHC memory cards (currently up to 16GB)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Notes</b>
The authors of this firmware (normmatt, gelu, smiths) highly discourages the use of this firmware on non-AceKard products (i.e. clones, which the R4 Ultra is), and in fact have blocked R4Ultra and other clone cards successfully with the latest loaders. Therefore, please respect their wishes and try not to use this firmware unless there's some game which doesn't work with every other firmware but does with 1.4.1 (I highly doubt it =\, although AKAIO is good, the current loader is outdated). The AceKard2 is a good flashcart, if you can, dump the R4Ultra and get it. Then you will be able to enjoy all the features of AKAIO (for the record my friend has an AceKard2 and is very very happy with AKAIO), which is one of the best flashcart firmware I've ever seen.

<b>More Info</b>
<a href="http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php/AKAIO" target="_blank">http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php/AKAIO</a>

<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Game Compatibility<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
So far I have not actually seen too many game compatibility issues using both the official (=\) firmware and YSMenu. The ones I have seen are:

0216 - Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time: Save hangs, though it does get saved. Happens both in official firmware and YSmenu (DMA on or off). Solved by using AKAIO 1.4.1, holding A while booting game.
3841 - The Legendary Starfy: Suspend save hangs, though it does get saved.
3851 - Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled: Frequent hangs using official firmware (especially after random encounters), solved by turning off Soft Reset feature (press R) or using YSMenu.
4162 - Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: White screen on boot, both official firmware and YSMenu. Solved by using AKAIO 1.4.1.

<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Final Misc. Stuff<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
I hope this has helped anyone who is unlucky enough to be saddled with an R4Ultra. Let me say it again: <b>DON'T BUY ANYTHING WHICH SAYS R4 ON IT</b>. If anything I wrote above is unacceptable please inform me.